Lady Red Devils win season openerCOAL HILL — Trailing 18 points in the fourth period, the Atkins Lady Red Devils dug deep for a 51-50 win over the Johnson County Westside Lady Rebels in both team’s season opener. “I really don’t know how we did it,” Atkins head coach Craig Pinion admitted. “But the kids just kept fighting and refused to give up and the only lead we had all night was 51-50 with 9.2 seconds to go in the game.” The Lady Red Devils (1-0) were led by Keisha Bobo, ...

Special needs student kicks for PiratesDOVER — When special needs student Heath Forehand kicked off for the Dover Pirates football team during their Week 9 game against the Waldron Bulldogs, he didn’t kick the ball far – but he touched a lot of hearts. “He kept giving us a thumbs up the whole time,” Heath’s father Donny Forehand said. “He has down syndrome and Apraxia of speech and it makes it hard for him to talk. It’s hard to measure his excitement because he has a reluctant side...

Dover wins second straightSUBIACO — Dover Pirates head coach Greg Smith is already looking forward to next season after the Pirates 28-13 win over the Subiaco Academy Trojans on Friday. According to Smith, the win was huge for Dover’s morale. “It’s hard to win that last game of the season,” Smith said. “You’re either in the playoffs and the only way you don’t lose is to win the whole thing, or you’re having a hard year and you miss the playoffs entirely. Either way, it...

Cyclones fall to Greenwood 42-7GREENWOOD — The Bulldogs don’t do anything flashy. They just line up, execute their game plan and win. Russellville senior Hunter Standridge’s 4-yard touchdown run tied Greenwood in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs scored 35 unanswered and claimed their 48th straight victory with a 42-7 win over the Cyclones on Friday night. Greenwood enters next week’s state playoffs as the top team in Class 6A after another 10-0 regular season. Russellvil...

Sand Lizards celebrate Senior Night with 39-6 winDARDANELLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards secured the No.4 Seed in next week’s Class 4A state playoffs with a 39-6 Senior Night thrashing of the Mena Bearcats at Keenan Field on Friday. For Dardanelle head coach Josh Price, it was the perfect ending to the regular season. “To be as young and inexperienced as we are, we are very pleased with how this year has gone,” Price said. “Two of our losses were by a combined eight points, and you know, a ...

Atkins tops Danville 35-19ATKINS — The Red Devils took care of business Friday by knocking off the Danville Little Johns 35-19 at Sorrels Stadium at Lemley Field on senior night. The game began with an offensive explosion as the teams combined to score 22 points in the first 3:38 of the contest. Atkins (7-3, 4-3 3A-4) struck on its first play from scrimmage as Brandon Burns received a pass from Alex Spradlin and then hit Colby Johnston on a 75-yard pass for a touchdown...

Apaches shut out winless Waldron 45-0WALDRON — The Pottsville Apaches traveled to Waldr0n for the final regular-season game of the year Friday night to face the Waldron Bulldogs. “The last two weeks of been really tough, so it was good for us to get back on track tonight and get ready for the playoffs coming up,” Coach Brian Rust said. And that’s exactly what the Apaches did against Waldron scoring on the first six possessions, and seven out nine for the game for a 45-0 final sco...

East shuts out West 27-0Never again will a Russellville Junior High Eastside or Westside Whirlwinds football player take the field at Cyclone Stadium after the Eastside’s 27-0 victory over the Westside on Thursday — a fact that was driven home after the close of the game when the teams met on the 50-yard line with Russellville Cyclones head coach Jeff Holt. “This is the last time you’ll put on these pads as different teams,” Holt told them after the Colors Day game c...

River Valley Glance — Week 10 arrives too quicklyI honestly can’t believe football season is coming to a close. For some teams, this Friday will be their last time to step on the football field in 2013. For a whole group of seniors, it’s their last time to put on pads at the high school level — or even at all. It came and went so quickly. It was barely here at all. Business as usual • Lamar Warriors — I kind of expected the Atkins Red Devils to play a closer game against the Lamar Warriors, ...

RJHS East vs. West: Bros before foesWhen the Russellville Junior High Eastside and Westside Whirlwinds meet at Cyclone Stadium for Thursday’s Colors Day football game, it won’t feel quite the same as the previous nine games of the season. When each quarterback takes his spot behind the center and reads the defense, he won’t stare at nameless faces from several miles down the road. He’ll look into the eyes of his classmates, peers and friends. When the linemen get into their stan...

Gators devour CardsOLA — Two Rivers head football coach Josh Harrison isn’t sure what college recruits are looking for when they scout high school players, but he knows several of his Gators are talented enough to play at the next level. Two Rivers (6-3, 4-2 3A-5 Conference) qualified for the Class 3A state playoffs in Week 8 with a 35-24 win over the Bismarck Lions and continued to assert its dominance on Friday with a 39-6 win over the Benton Harmony Grove Car...

Dover Pirates beat WaldronDOVER — Homecoming was the perfect opportunity for the Dover Pirates to notch their first win of the season. The Pirates thumped the Waldron Bulldogs 49-21 on Friday at Jack Berry Field. Dover (1-8, 1-5 4A-4 Conference) even had a guest kicker for the night. Heath Forehand, who has Down syndrome, handled kickoff duties once in the first quarter and once in the second quarter. “He touched a lot of hearts tonight,” Dover head coach Greg Smith sa...

No. 8 Rebels handle Cyclones 45-25It looked like the Russellville Cyclones would go into the locker room at halftime trailing the No. 8 Fort Smith Southside Rebels 14-7. Southside, however, didn’t want to take any chances of a third straight loss, after losing to Greenwood 45-42 last week and to Conway two weeks ago. In the final 4:18 of the first half, the Rebels recovered a Russellville fumble, scored a touchdown and hit a 19-yard field goal as time ran out to lead 24-7 at h...

Warriors use big second half to beat Red DevilsLAMAR — The Lamar Warriors strengthened their control on second place in the 3A-4 conference Friday as they pulled away to a 42-22 Senior Night victory over the Atkins Red Devils. In a first half filled with turnovers and penalties, the two teams fought to a 14-14 tie at the half. The Warriors (8-1, 5-1 3A-4) began the evening on the right note by driving 61 yards in five plays for a touchdown. Braxton Sampley found Ryan Jones on a 24-yard scr...

Sand Lizards stung by Maumelle HornetsDARDANELLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards did everything they could to defeat themselves during Friday night’s 4A-4 Conference game against the Maumelle Hornets. Trailing 12-9 in the fourth quarter, Dardanelle (5-3, 3-3 4A-4) failed to capitalize on two interceptions, suffered 40 yards in penalties and fumbled on the Hornet 8-yard line during the 20-15 loss at Keenan Field. After forcing the Sand Lizards to punt the opening possession away, Mau...

Pottsville loses second straight gamePOTTSVILLE — The Pottsville Apaches hosted 4A-4 Conference leader Booneville Bearcats at John Needham Stadium. Booneville entered the contest a perfect 8-0 and Pottsville looked to get back on the winning track after last week’s loss to Maumelle, but the Apaches fell 35-7 on Friday. Pottsville (7-2, 4-2) took possession after the opening kick-off at its 38-yard line. Michael Perry and the Apaches offense came out of the gate throwing the ball ...

Sand Lizards utilize late defensive stopCLARKSVILLE — The Dardanelle Junior Sand Lizards overcame a 14-7 halftime deficit to defeat the Clarksville Panthers 21-14 Thursday at Metheny Field. The Junior Panthers drove to the Sand Lizards 6-yard line with just over four minutes to play in the contest, but Dardanelle’s Elyas Carter made a huge tackle on fourth down that gave the Junior Lizards the ball back. Clarksville had another chance to catch the Sand Lizards later in the fourth qu...

Westside falls to LR ChristianDespite a valiant effort, the Russellville Junior High Westside Whirlwinds couldn’t scare up a win on Halloween at Cyclone Stadium. The winless Whirlwinds were defeated by the Little Rock Catholic Junior Warriors 34-12 during Thursday’s game. Little Rock Christian started things off quickly with a four-play, 60-yard scoring drive to make it 7-0 with 7:13 left in the first quarter after the successful PAT. Russellville (0-9, 0-6 River Valley Co...

Lady Cyclones fall in 5 setsJONESBORO — Jonesboro High School officials announced that a tornado warning had been issued for Craighead County between the fourth and fifth set of Thursday night’s Class 6A volleyball state semifinals. The storm was 30 miles to the east and moving away, but they were concerned about the storm between the Lady Hurricanes and Russellville Lady Cyclones that lasted five sets and had enough action to rip the roof off the JHS gym. Finally, the t...

Lady Cyclones reach 6A semifinalsJONESBORO — The defending 6A state champion Russellville Lady Cyclones are a step closer to getting back to the state title volleyball match after they defeated Siloam Springs in five sets Wednesday night and advanced to tonight’s semifinals of the Class 6A state volleyball tournament. RHS (23-9), the third seed from the 6A-East, defeated the Lady Panthers, the second seed from the 6A-South, 19-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 17-15 inside Annie Camp ...